


Green Teddy Bears and iPods

by Kariki



Series: Hartmon Week 2016 [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Both Cisco and Hartley are fucking nerds, Cisco means well and is a cinnamon roll, Dr. Wells to the rescue, Fake Relationship, Gen, Guilt, Hartley's Tinnitus HURTS, Hartmonweek2016, Hospitalization, Particle Accelerator explosion aftermath, The ship is more implied, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 18:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6999955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kariki/pseuds/Kariki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Written for Hartmonweek2016, Prompt #5: Fake Relationship AU)</p><p>The call hadn't even been for Cisco but how could he just stay away when told Hartley Rathaway was alone in the hospital and this was his last emergency contact?  He might not have liked the guy but Cisco isn't going to just let someone sit alone in a hospital by themselves...</p><p>Especially not if he's the reason they're in the hospital in the first place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green Teddy Bears and iPods

**Author's Note:**

> What do you mean this isn't what people have in mind when they hear the phrase "fake relationship AU"?!
> 
> (I didn't put the shipper tag on this because it's more pre-relationship/implied start of one)

_I shouldn't be here._

That was the one thought Cisco kept having as he rode the elevator up to the fifth floor of the hospital. The call hadn't even been for him but for Caitlin... except Caitlin was in no state to be looking after someone else right but especially not Hartley Rathaway.

He shouldn't have answered her phone, he knew, but she had just finally gotten to sleep and there were so many people calling, wanting to know if she was alright (technically), if Ronnie was alright (no... no, he wasn't). It was the least he could do, being the middleman between her and the rest of the world.

How was he suppose to know a hospital would call and ask him about Hartley 'Asshole' Rathaway? How was he suppose to know that was even an option? That Hartley would have Caitlin, of all people, be his last case emergency contact?

Well, okay, he could see why he would choose Caitlin. Caitlin was a saint and would probably come visit Darth Vader in the hospital if someone called and told her he had no one else...

Because that was the problem: Hartley didn't have anyone else.

The thought made Cisco's stomach twist. He hated the guy but still...

The fact that Hartley was even _in_ the hospital was because he got caught in the explosion from the Particle Accelerator... that just made everything that much worse. They still weren't sure how many people got hurt that night. It was days later and people were still coming into the hospitals, were still being reported missing. The hospitals were swamped and a lot of people were being sent off to others cities because there was just so many.

Cisco jumped as the elevator door dinged and slid open. Half of his elevator mates quickly pushed past him as more people moved to climb in. Cisco took a deep breath and stepped out into the crowded hallway.

Hartley's hospital room was at the end of the hall, last room on the left. Cisco stared at the room number for a moment, avoiding having to actually look through the open door and into the room. 

"Here goes nothing," Cisco muttered under his breath and walked in.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting. That Hartley would have a room that looked like it belonged in a TV show rather than a real hospital? That he'd be sitting in bed with a smug smirk on his face? That he'd mock Cisco for being worried?

It certainly wasn't to see Hartley curled on his side in the hospital bed, alone in a small dim room, a thick bandage on his right temple. The other man seemed to be asleep though his brow was furrowed as though he were in pain. There were monitors attached to him, an IV in his arm, and had he always been that pale... or that skinny? He looked a lot younger like this, asleep and without those horn-rimmed glasses to hide behind...

"H-Hartley?" Cisco approached the bed, torn between wanting to wake him up and letting him sleep. 

The figure on the bed didn't stir.

"Sir?" Cisco jumped as the voice came from behind him. A nurse in light blue scrubs was at the door, a clipboard in hand and a frown on her face. Her hair was frizzing out of the bun on top of her head and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. She looked between him and Hartley. "Are you lost...?"

"Um, no," Cisco shook his head, glancing back at Hartley. "I just... I just found how he was here today."

"Are you his... step brother?" She was trying to be polite but Cisco could figure out what she was getting at. Visitation was family only and Cisco? He did not look related to Hartley in any meaningful way.

"Uh... no. No, nothing like that." Cisco looked back at the figure on the bed. He could tell the truth and get politely escorted away. He can say he tried to be a good guy but rules, ya'know... it's not like anyone would actually know he was here. He could go and... and Hartley would be here alone.

Damn it.

Cisco looked back at the frazzled nurse, taking in the bags under her eyes and the tired slump of her shoulders. 

"I'm his boyfriend."

* * *

The bear was only six or so inches tall but it was nice shade of green with a green and white polka dot bow around its neck. It was the only green teddy bear the gift shop downstairs had and Cisco was only kinda sure Hartley liked green.

He either liked it or hated it...

It's the thought that counts, right?

It's the same with the music. Cisco knew Hartley _liked_ music - guy put Dante to shame bragging how good he was at playing it! - but he wasn't actually sure what kind of music. 

Classical, probably. Smug asshole.

But Cisco didn't actually have any classical on his iPod, just the soundtrack to a few movies, shows and games... instrumental stuff was close enough, right?

Cisco slouched back in the uncomfortable chair by Hartley's bed, the teddy bear balanced on his knee for now. Behind him, his iPod lay on the only open flat surface available, a speaker he had had to buy down in the gift shop connected to it. He kept the music low so as not to disturb anyone else but it helped drown out the beeps and hums from the machines around Hartley.

Cisco had been there for hours already and all he could find out from the stressed out nurse and doctor was that they had no idea what was wrong with Hartley. Every time he woke up, he would start screaming in pain within minutes but they couldn't find the cause. There didn't seem to be any internal bleeding or swelling, he wasn't concussed despite the head injury. They needed to do further tests but other patients needed first priority.

As harsh as it was, Hartley wasn't in immediate danger, despite his pain, and other people were.

Cisco wasn't looking forward to Hartley waking up. He had thought about every possible scenario and not one of them ended nicely. Hartley wakes up and either screams in pain or screams at him to go the fuck away or both... or Hartley doesn't do anything... Somehow, that seems worse. They don't know what's wrong with him, after all... there could be damage they don't know about...

"Is that Doctor Who?" The voice was soft and cracking but it still made Cisco jump. 

Cisco looked to the bed and found a pair of eyes, barely focused, watching him. There was a confused frown on Hartley's face but... at least he wasn't yelling...

"Uh, yeah," He tried to smile, standing up to lean over the bed. "I, uh, I didn't know what kind of music you... you like."

Hartley frowned, his brow furrowing further as he closed his eyes.

"Loud..." He muttered, burying his face into the pillow.

Cisco frowned at the small speaker. Guess he doesn't like it...

"Right, sorry..." Cisco reached over and turned the iPod off. "I, uh, I got you a bear..."

He held the green abomination so it was in Hartley's line of sight. Hartley opened one eye to look at the bear then up at Cisco.

"Why... why are you..." Hartley started to ask but his voice sounded rough and painful. Cisco held up a hand.

"They called Caitlin..." Cisco said, turning the bear around to look at its slightly smooshed face. "But she's not... she's wasn't well and I answered her phone and..." Cisco shrugged, "It didn't feel right to just leave you here without at least visiting."

Hartley frowned and curled up tighter on the bed.

"I-I had to tell the nurse we're dating, by the way," Cisco said, starting to stammer as Hartley continued to not respond the way he had prepared himself for. "They have a family only rule they're being strict about, I guess because reporters or something... and I figured if they're calling Caitlin for you, you must not have many people to come visit you and okay, only realizing now that's kind of a jerk thing to say, sorry, but I... I'm rambling now and... I'm going to go get the nurse now."

Cisco dropped the bear into his vacated chair and quickly hurried out of the room, barely hearing Hartley's groan of 'loud' as he scanned the halls for a nurse or doctor or... or someone.

He saw a familiar head of frizzing hair and blue scrubs at the end of the hall.

"Clarissa!" Cisco jogged down the all, careful to avoid running into patients or staff in the still crowded hallways. The nurse looked up and gave Cisco a small, tired smile. "It's Hartley. He just woke up. He seems fine but I thought you'd want to -"

Cisco didn't finish the sentence. He felt like his blood had been replace with ice as a loud, pain-filled scream started down the hall. He stared down the way he came, watching as nurses and doctors rushed toward the room he had just left.

It felt like living in a blur as Cisco followed Clarissa the nurse back down the hall, back through the door to Hartley's room. He could only stare as the staff crowded around the bed, Hartley in the middle of them, screaming and clutching at his head. One doctor was doing something to his IV while another was trying to ask Hartley questions through his screaming, trying to find some clue as to what was wrong.

Cisco felt like his body was moving before his brain could catch up. He was out the door and down the hall before he could even think of what he was doing. He stopped in the waiting room, his cellphone already out of his pocket and his thumb posed over a name on his contact list.

He couldn't hear Hartley anymore, not from this far away, but he had no idea if the other man was still screaming or if he was out again. Did they knock him out or did the pain do that for them? 

Cisco stared at the name and number on his phone and hit dial.

* * *

Cisco took his time getting back to Hartley's room. It was horrible of him, he knew, but... he couldn't watch that... he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. He couldn't help the doctors or Hartley and it sucked. It _sucked_.

It was almost an hour before he made it back up to the room. Hartley was unconscious again, laying on his back instead of his side now, and all of the staff except Clarissa had cleared out. Cisco avoided looking at her sympathetic face as he sat down beside Hartley once again.

"Just checking his vitals," she told him, writing something down on the clipboard. "They're going to do an MRI in a few hours. We can't keep giving him painkillers like this," She shook her head. "We're going to have to stop them at some point, whether we've fixed the problem or not..."

"But... what if he's still in pain?" Cisco looked down at the still figure in the bed. Somehow, Hartley managed to look even paler and smaller than before.

"Keeping him on the medication could make things worse," Clarissa shook her head. "Addiction, kidney failure... they're very real risks."

"Risks that we can hopefully avoid."

Cisco turned toward the new voice coming from the doorway. Relief flooded through him even as he mentally winced at the state of his former mentor.

Harrison Wells looked like he had survived the beating of a lifetime... though that comparison wasn't too far off. When the Particle Accelerator exploded, he had been sent through a wall. The older man's face was still covered in bruises and swelling in places, his right eye was black and his left arm in a cast. And the wheelchair... 

Clarissa's face turned sour but she forced a smile. Cisco suspected it was something he'd have to get used to seeing. 

"Dr. Harrison Wells," the nurse turned to face the man, her smile now more of a grimace, "what brings you here?"

"I learned a former employee of mine was admitted here," Dr. Wells nodded toward Hartley's bed. "I came as soon as I was able."

"S-should you be out of bed, Dr. Wells?" Cisco spoke up, a sick feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He knew Wells was seriously hurt as well... then again, he hadn't expected him to show up in person. 

"It's fine, Mr. Ramon," Wells assured him, the wheelchair humming as Wells moved it into the room. "There's nothing more they can do for me now."

"Right... sorry," Cisco nodded, trying not to fidget as Wells approached the bed.

He didn't know quite what happened to cause the fallout between Hartley and Dr. Wells, just that it had been bad. Hartley didn't even bother to clear out his things when he left and Wells wouldn't speak of it - just that they had a disagreement.

Looking at Wells now, Cisco had a hard time believing any disagreement could get between them. Wells looked like he was looking at a member of his family on that hospital bed. 

"Do you mind if I take a look at Mr. Rathaway's file?" Dr. Wells looked up at Clarissa, holding a hand out for the file in her hand. 

With a pinched look to her face, she handed it over. Wells nodded his thanks and immediately began reading over it.

"Do you know how he was found? Where?" 

"He was at S.T.A.R labs," Clarissa answered, crossing her arms. "Along with a dozen other people who went to see that thing turned on..."

Dr. Wells ignored the edge in her voice. "And that's all? No other hints as to what's causing it?"

Clarissa shook her head. "We couldn't find any obvious injuries and with the backlog of patients... we tried to make him comfortable while the higher priority patients were taken care of. He's been scheduled for an MRI this evening," she supplied, glancing back at Cisco and, for the first time, he wonder if she had ever bought his boyfriend lie and she had just been polite this whole time.  
"Hmm," Dr. Wells flipped through the file again. On the bed, Hartley moved, turning onto his side and curling up, moving back into the position Cisco had first found him in. "I don't think an MRI would be a good idea," Wells said after a few moments, his brows furrowed.

"And why would that be?" Clarissa gave up all pretenses and glowered down at Dr. Wells. To his credit, Dr. Wells didn't flinch.

"Because if I'm right, an MRI would be like torture..." Dr. Wells stated, a serious cast to his face. "It may just a suspicion but... Cisco? Your phone, please?" Wells held out his hand to Cisco.

"Um, sure..." Cisco handed his phone over, confused as he watched Well's thumb unlock the screen. He paused and glanced up at Hartley. "If I'm right... then I'm so sorry about this, Hartley." 

Well pressed a button and a loud, tinny screech came from the phone's speakers but the results were instantaneous. As Cisco and Clarissa winced at the sound, Hartley Rathaway came too with a loud scream, curling up further into himself and clutching at his head...

No, not his head, at his ears...

Dr. Wells quickly killed the noise. "Cisco, headphones?" He nodded to the iPod, still sitting on the small bedside table, connected to the cheap speakers.

"How will that help?!" Clarissa demanded, even as Cisco quickly dug into his pocket and pulled his earbuds. He grabbed the iPod, ripped the speaker cord out and plugged in the earbuds. He moved to Hartley's side and, with Clarissa's help, pulled Hartley's hands away to put the earbuds in his ears.

"The music should counteract the tinnitus." Dr. Wells explained, watching as Hartley's screams turned into whimpers as the pain faded into something manageable. "It'll give his ears something to focus on... Nurse?" Wells turned to look at Clarissa, "I believe it would be best if you cancel Mr. Rathaway's MRI."

The nurse looked at Hartley then back at Wells before leaving the room.

"Cisco?" Cisco looked up from where he was hovering over Hartley, his hand on the other man's shoulder, offering comfort as the music did it's job. "Can you go find some over-the-ears headphones for Hartley? Preferably something that's noise canceling as well?"

Cisco looked down at Hartley then back to Wells. "Uh, yeah. I have some at my apartment. It'll take me an hour to get there and back though..."

"That's fine," Dr. Wells assured him with a soft smile, "I think me and Hartley need to have a talk. If he's up for it."

"Okay..." Cisco looked around for a moment. He picked up the green teddy bear from the floor where it had fallen during the earlier rush to Hartley's bedside, and set it in the bed beside Hartley's arm. Hartley's eyes fluttered open at the feel of the plush fur against his arm. He looked at the bear then up at Cisco as Cisco wedged the iPod in the between the bear's arms. "I'll be back soon, okay, Hartley?"

Hartley stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Thank you..." Hartley's voice still sounded rough and torn but Cisco couldn't hear any sarcasm and venom in the words.

"No problem," Cisco smiled back, bright and happy, glancing back at Dr. Wells. "We got you now..."


End file.
